Apples and Oranges
by Zellarest
Summary: A day in the life of Katie and Oliver after the war. /KatieOliver for Hogwarts!


For History of Magic at Hogwarts: "To the best of your ability, you are to Write a slice of life story, That is at least 1000 words long; try to keep the reader intrigued."

Words: 1543

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Rain pounds at the windows of the flat, which is drowned in dim, flickering candlelight. The bed covers are tossed and clutched in the boy's fitful rest. His forehead glistens with sweat and his lips move in unintelligible words. For a moment he falls silent, stops moving, and Katie sighs with relief.

Then he cries, "I don't want to go to class though!"

The nightmares of Oliver Wood, she thinks furiously.

"Of course my mother is my worst nightmare and he fears pop quizzes!" Katie grumbles moodily, tearing back the little covers that were left to her.

Katie swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She buries his toes in the soft red carpet and sighs. Oliver mumbles something incoherent and she is shaken from her moment of peace.

When she makes it to his side of the bed, Katie shoves his shoulder. She isn't in the mood for kindness.

"Oliver! Oliver wake up!"

Bent down to jostle his shoulder, she hears him mutter, "Splash of cowbane... stir... counter-clockwise for approx...imately ten... minutes..."

"Chocolate chip pancakes and fudge syrup!" she yells loudly.

Immediately Oliver shoots up in bed with his arms spread out as though he were ready to attack. Or catch a Quaffle.

His words are slurred as though he had just drunk a pint of firewhiskey. "Whadda 'bout surm pancakes?"

Katie gestures to the mussed up bed. "Keep this up and I'll be shoving them down your throat."

"Wha..." he looks at the bed and slowly puts the pieces together at the pace of a snail that was getting on in its years. "Ohh..."

"Ohh yeah," she mocks him. "Now get your arse out of bed. If I'm going to be up because of you, you're getting up too."

"Fine..." he grumbles. "You get the shower then."

Katie smirks. "Always."

He frowned. "At least I don't brush my teeth in the shower."

As she heads for the bathroom, she laughs, "You should. You can see everything in your teeth when you snore!"

"Well... you do that!" he calls after her, sticking a finger in his mouth and probing his teeth.

"I will!" she laughs.

.,.,.,.

Katie sat at their rickety, cheap table in a creaky, old chair and scanned the moving pictures and floating text for any relevant news. Oliver plopped down into the seat across from her, slumped over a steaming mug of tea. In a moment, his lips are drawn into a frown.

"Has anyone died?" he asked.

Katie stared at him for a moment and trued to judge whether he was joking or not. "A suspected Death Eater was killed while being captured. The two men who were on the task have been taken in for question," she pauses to observe the frown deepen. "Other than that, no."

"So we're still having Alicia, that cheerful Milly girl, and that girl with the Quidditch obsession over tonight?"

"You mean Liza?"

Oliver shrugs noncommittally and says, "Yeah."

A crease appears in her forehead as her eyebrows knit together loosely. "Yes. What does this have to do with reported deaths?" she questioned, fixing him with a confused look.

He hesitates. "Nothing, I was just wondering..."

"Your tea is getting cold," she mutters, turning back to a story about a flying toad over Manchester.

.,.,.,.

They are sat on the couch, Oliver on one side and Katie stretched across it with her legs rested on Oliver's lap. He fiddles with his broom compass, minimally adjusting the tightness of the pointer every few seconds. Katie had begun by polishing her wand, but now she just twirled her hair around it. She discovered that she liked the way it twirled back into place.

After an immeasurable amount of time doing this, Katie glances up at Oliver, who doesn't meet her gaze. She hesitates before speaking, words dying as they rose up her throat, watching him turn the compass around in his hands almost rhythmically. While his hands worked, her eyes slid up to his eyes. Coppery brown, they glint in the light the lamp provided in the fascinating way that it almost entrances her.

When he looks up and meets her eyes, she quickly diverts them and coughs, as though it were wrong to observe her boyfriend.

Trying to distract him she says, "I don't know how we expected them to be on time."

Oliver shrugged. "We've only been waiting..." he glanced at his watch, which glowed with a dim light.

"Too long," she predicted.

Oliver frowned, studying the wristwatch as though it could be malfunctioning. It lasted only a few seconds, but she catches the irritated expression that crosses his face afterwards.

"Yeah."

Katie sighs. Glancing at the coffee table, she took note of three board games, post-its, and a few pieces of paper. Materials to organize a lame game night, she thinks wearily.

A knock came at the door. Oliver and Katie both shared simultaneous looks of both relief and annoyance, respectively. Katie removes her legs off of Oliver's lap and they both stand at the same time. She lets him get the door, pretending to fiddle with her shirt a bit.

When she hears a voice exclaim, "Oliver! Good to see you!" she knows that is her cue.

As she walks on over, she isn't surprised to see Liza talking to Oliver. Her eyes are bright and her smile is even brighter.

Katie is almost jealous of her when Liza asks, "How are you, Oliver?"

"Oh, uh... fine."

"You are," she replies, a low tone in her voice that makes Katie want to shut the door.

But then Alicia catches sight of her and beams. "Katie! You look fantastic!"

Katie opens her mouth to object before Milly steps in.

"It's only a t-shirt and some comfy jeans," she says with a coy smile, as if having read her mind.

Katie mouths a "Thank you," to her before turning back to Liza.

"You must be getting tired of standing on your feet like this," Katie says warmly. "Come in, we don't bite."

Liza grins. "But I do," she trills.

Katie smiles at her halfheartedly. "Very funny."

"Cauldron cakes?" Oliver interrupts from the kitchen.

Anna raises her hand. "Yes please!"

Milly does too, but waves it enthusiastically. "Me, two! Or three..." she frowns, stumped by her indecision.

"One, if you don't mind," Liza answers politely.

Oliver grins widely. Katie sees it before it happens.

"Catch!" he says and lightly tosses the cakes to the girls.

Katie watches as they catch them easily and almost devour them, wrappers and all. Thankfully, they still have a _little_ reserve. Olivers drops down next to her and holds out a plump cauldron cake.

"For you, love."

The red tinge spreads swiftly across her cheeks. "Thanks."

Hours pass, full of enraged screams of defeat and joyous yells of victory. They all participate in several games, sometimes losing or even cheating from desperation. Many curses were dropped. After being thwarted in a game of Snakes and Ladders, Oliver exclaims, "By Godric's chest hair!" and Liza yells, "You dirty boggart!"

At the end of the night, they rise from their seats red-faced with embarrassment and frustration and ragged from exhaustion. Katie bids the girls goodbye with Oliver, trying to keep the smile on her face consistent all the while. Each girl left with a smile and a wave.

Oliver closes the door with a sharp _snap_. The sigh of relief tumbles past his lips in the same instant hers does.

Katie looks to him with a weak grin. "I can't believe you lost Warlocks and Sorceresses!"

"Shut up," he mutters.

"But you did do pretty well at Wizard's Chess."

"Thanks."

.,.,.,.

A few hours later, the ceiling is swimming in her eyes. The sigh that escapes her lips is nearly imperceptible, but still there. When she turns to Oliver, she isn't surprised to see him still awake.

"Worried about pop quizzes again?"

"No, just..." he pauses. "Just thinking."

"Don't strain yourself," she teases.

Oliver doesn't smile.

Katie quickly composes herself and asks seriously, "What about?"

"Everything."

"A bit of a broad subject, don't you think?"

"I mean about the war, everyone who died... and lived."

"You're thinking you should have?"

"I just... no, I just wonder what would have changed had I."

"Well, first off, your fangirls would have followed you," Katie jokes, nudging him playfully. "Seriously, though, I don't know what I would have done. Eventually, I'd move on, I'd have to, but I would never of gotten over it."

"Our lives are marked by that awful war. It happened over a year ago, and I still can't forget the faces of everyone. Everyone I couldn't save."

Katie stays silent.

"I'd like to be settled into somewhat of a normal life. Somewhat. I know it's never going to be completely normal. I'll always remember it. That will never change."

Katie runs a finger down the bridge of his nose and bopped the tip. She had never been good with serious situations. "Neither will anyone else."

_Not even me_, she thinks grimly.

Oliver wraps his arms around her and neither of them utter another word. Katie listens to the _tha-thump_, _tha-thump_ rhythm against her back until his breath even out. Then the clutches of sleep takes her.

_.,.,.,._


End file.
